Safety binding lever for ski bindings



Oct. 6, 1964 G. SCHWEIZER 3,151,874

SAFETY BINDING LEVER FOR SKI BINDINGS Filed July 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet1 /NvE/v TM G0 TTF/2150 .5a/4 avE/2ER ATTQR NE YS 0ct. 6, 1964 G,scHwElzER SAFETY BINDING LEVER FOR SKI BINDINGS Filed July 5, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,151,874 SAFETY BINDlNG LEVE tFOR SKI BINDINGS Gottfried Schweizer, Vienna, Austria, assigner toWiener Metaiiwarenund Schnailenfabrik Schar- Smoika, Schwechat, Austria,a firm of Austria Fiied Juiy 3, 1962, Ser. No. 297,198

Claims priority, application Austria, July 20, 1961,

Claims. (Cl. 280-11.35)

The invention relates to a safety binding lever for ski bindings and ischaracterized in that a spring is provided for receiving the tension ofthe cable and for eifecting in an unlocked position of the correspondingbinding parts the opening of the safety binding lever. The invention isfurther characterized by a crank lever between the one end of the spirngand a stop on the binding lever.

In the drawings the object of the invention is shown by way of examplein one embodiment.

FIGS. l and 2 show longitudinal sectional and top plan views,respectively, in the non-operative position of the single parts of thebinding lever;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 indicating the normal operativeposition;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. l indicating the position of the singleparts of the binding lever which results in case of overload;

FiG. 5 indicates the binding lever in an upwardly snapped position;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation indicating the position of the parts of thebinding lever at overload (like FIG. 4); and,

FIG. 7 is a detail of the bolt and adjustment nut.

T he present inventori is an improvement over prior art devices,particularly in the provision of a locking mechanism for a clamp leverof a ski binding including a locking bolt which may be displaced by atension force on the binding into a release position to permit a springof the mechanism to act on the lever and cause the rapid movementthereof and the opening of the binding.

In the non-operative position the single parts of the binding lever lieas shown in FIG. l. The tension of the cable 2 acts by way of coverplates 15 on the bolt 1t), which is supported in the binding lever 8.The binding lever 3 is mounted on a bolt 16 which is pivoted in sideplates 17 of a support 6. The binding lever 8 is locked in thisnon-operative position. The locking is provided by engagement of theboit in a recess 11 of a crank lever 3. Thus the binding lever 8 cannotsnap up in this position and this is particularly advantageousespecially for transporting purposes.

In the normal operating condition i.e. after the user steps into thebinding with the boot, the parts are oriented as in FIG. 3. On accountof the effect of the tension of the cable 2 the locking between the bolt1t) and recess 11 has been released. Thereby the support 6 which carriesspring bolt 7 and binding lever 8 is displaced to the right of the baseplate S as indicated in the FIG. 3 of the drawing. Thereby the spring 1has been correspondingly tensioned and the boot sits rmly in thebinding. The binding lever 8 cannot snap up as the cable tension actingon the bolt 1t) is centered below the bolt 16 and the binding lever S ismaintained in this position by the action line of the tension force ofthe cable 2 acting with spring 1. The crank lever 3 acts here as atwo-armed lever being pivotally supported at 19 on the iiange 18 of thebasel plate 5. The force of the spring 1 urges the crank lever 3 in FIG.3 in a oounterclockwise direction. However, this force of the spring 1acts, as shown in the drawing, on an extremely small lever arm of thecrank lever 3. Thus, the iong lever arm cannot push upwardly against thestop 4 and the binding lever 8. This operating position is ICCmaintained as long as no excessive tension forces act on the cable 2.

When a large tension force does act on the cable 2 the position of thebinding lever according to FIG. 4 is obtained. The support 6 and all theparts connected therewith are shifted further to the right hand side.The stop 4 is disengaged from the long lever arm of the crank lever 3.The spring 1 is compressed to produce a comparatively large force. Thisforce acts now upon the short arm of the crank lever 3 and pivots samecounterclockwise. The longer lever arm of this crank lever 3 acts by Wayof the bolt 10 to rotate it counterclockwise (arrow 20) and opens thebinding lever by moving it in the direction of the arrow 21. Theconditions of the lever have now changed in as tar as the lever armbeing extremely long according to FIG. 3 between the location 19 and thelocation 4 and it is now reduced as shown in FIG. 4 to a distancebetween the location 4 and the bolt 10. The conditions for the snappingup of the binding lever 3 are indicated in FIG. 5. In the shown positionthe crank lever 3 lies close to the iiange 18, and the spring 1 is nolonger effective for the opening of the binding lever 8. However, thisis not at all necessary now as the tension of the cable 2 at the bolt1t? acts along a line extending above the bolt 16 (the dead centerposition has been exceeded) and the tension of the cable 2 itself flingsopen the binding lever. The spacing of the tension line of action of thecable 2 above the rotating axis of the bolt 16 is indicated at 22. Inthe sequel of the opening the stop 4 moves against the long arm of thecrank lever 3 to pivot the crank lever counterclockwise around the spot23 until the binding lever 8 lies substantially perpendicular to thecable 2. However. such a position of rotation around the spot 23 cannotbe maintained by the crank lever 3 for a long time as the spring 1depresses this crank lever 3 into a position as can be seen in FIG. 5.The long lever arm of this crank lever 3 has then once again assumed aposition necessary for the closing of the safety binding lever.

From FIG. 6 one can learn that at an overload, i.e. if the length of thecable has been adjusted too short (i.e. cohesion at the ski boot is toolarge) the safety binding lever S cannot be closed lastingly. In thisevent the same conditions exist as shown in FIG. 4. This means whenclosing the lever the same snaps up of itself according to the arrows2i) and 21, indicating that the cable 2 is too short or that the wholebinding is adjusted too tight. By providing a longer length of the cableand by tightening the nut 13, respectively, one is able to adjust onceagain a corresponding position of operation.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 7 the spring bolt 7 has a ne thread12 with a pitch in the range between 0.4 and 0.9 mm. Friction reducingslide means are provided between the spring 1 and this adjustment nut13, such as a shim plate 14 of friction poor plastic and graphitecontaining material, respectively. By the one and/ or by both themethods one can turn the adjustment nut 13 easily at any time even underunfavorable conditions and can set the desired spring tension of thespring 1.

At last it is pointed to the fact that marks 24, 25 (FIG- URE 2) areprovided at the parts of the binding lever (base plate 5, support 6)which are moveable relatively to each other. The distance 26 of themarks 24, 25 from each other is a measurement for the safety adjustment.The marks 24 and 25 are closely visible at any time. If the distance 26becomes zero the binding lever snaps up.

The invention is not restricted to the shown embodiments. The describedlocking between the parts 10 and 11 depends upon the force of thespring 1. However, by the scope of invention lockings are, of course,covered being independently from the force of the spring 1, for instancethe binding lever may cooperate with a catch spring fixed on the ski, orthe binding lever 2 itself may have a catch spring which cooperates withthe crank lever 3 at the spot 11. For the locking in the non-operativeposition it only is necessary that the binding lever is held by frictionand under spring force, respectively, relatively to the ski and thebinding parts connected therewith.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety clamp for ski bindings including a tension ing cable,comprising a base plate including a flat portion adapted to be anchoredto a ski and an upstanding lug portion with an opening therein, acarriage movable on said base plate, a spring bolt secured to saidcarriage extending through said upstanding lug portion opening andhaving a spring retainer adjacent its opposite end, an angle leverpivoted on said upstanding lug portion and including a long arm portionextending in a direction away from said spring retainer and a short armportion with an opening through which said bolt extends, a coil springaround said bolt abutting said spring retainer at one end and said anglelever short arm portion at its opposite end, said spring urging saidlever to rotate about said upstanding lug portion to move said long armportion outwardly from said base plate, and a clamp lever pivotallymounted on said carriage adapted to be pivotally connected to 'dietensioning cable and adapted to overlie said angle lever in a clampedposition, said clamp lever and said angle lever deiining locking meanspreventing rotation of said angle lever and release of said binding whenthe tensioning cable is normally stressed as when a boot is positionedin the binding, said locking means including a member displaceable withsaid clamp lever and the tensioning cable when the tensioning cable isoverstressed to release said angle lever.

2. A safety clamp for ski bindings according to claiml, wherein saidlocking means includes a stop member carried on said clamp lever.

3. A safety clamp for ski bindings according to claim 1, wherein saidlocking means includes a stop member carried on said clamp lever adaptedto contact the long armed portion of said angle lever when said clamplever is pivoted downwardly over said angle lever in a clampingposition.

4. A safety clamp for ski bindings including a tensioning cable forsecuring a boot in the ski binding comprising a base plate including anupstanding flat lug portion at one end and a clamp lever mountingbracket portion at an opposite end, said lug portion having an openingtherein, a carriage movable on said base plate, a spring bolt secured tosaid carriage extending through the opening of said upstanding lugportion and having a spring retainer adjacent its opposite end, an anglelever pivoted on said upstanding lug portion and including a rst armwith an opening through which said bolt extends and a second armextending between said upstanding lug portion and said bracket portion,a coil spring around said bolt abutting said spring retainer at one endand said angle lever first arm at its opposite end to bias the secondarm portion of said angle lever in a direction outwardly from said baseplate, a clamp lever pivotally mounted on said carriage and adapted tobe pivotaliy connected to said tensioning cable at a location spaced inthe direction toward said upstanding lug portion from said bracketpivotal connection to said clamp lever, said clamp lever adapted tooverlie said angle lever in a clamped position and having a stop portionthereon engageable with the second arm portion of said angle lever andacting to hold said angle lever downwardly against said base plate, saidstop member adapted'to overlie said angle lever when the cable isnormally tensioned but being displaced off said angle lever forreleasing the same when the boot is in a position engaged in the skibinding, whereby upon the presence of overstressing on the cable, theangle lever second portion may move away from the base portion tounclamp the boot.

5. A safety clamp according to claim 4, including means for adjustingthe compression of said spring.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS3,012,793 Beyl Dec. 12, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 140,881 Austria Mar. 11,1935 1,034,246 France Apr. 8, 1953 538,351 Italy Jan. 23, 1956

1. A SAFETY CLAMP FOR SKI BINDINGS INCLUDING A TENSIONING CABLE,COMPRISING A BASE PLATE INCLUDING A FLAT PORTION ADAPTED TO BE ANCHOREDTO A SKI AND AN UPSTANDING LUG PORTION WITH AN OPENING THEREIN, ACARRIAGE MOVABLE ON SAID BASE PLATE, A SPRING BOLT SECURED TO SAIDCARRIAGE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID UPSTANDING LUG PORTION OPENING ANDHAVING A SPRING RETAINER ADJACENT ITS OPPOSITE END, AN ANGLE LEVERPIVOTED ON SAID UPSTANDING LUG PORTION AND INCLUDING A LONG ARM PORTIONEXTENDING IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID SPRING RETAINER AND A SHORT ARMPORTION WITH AN OPENING THROUGH WHICH SAID BOLT EXTENDS, A COIL SPRINGAROUND SAID BOLT ABUTTING SAID SPRING RETAINER AT ONE END AND SAID ANGLELEVER SHORT ARM PORTION AT ITS OPPOSITE END, SAID SPRING URGING SAIDLEVER TO ROTATE ABOUT SAID UPSTANDING LUG PORTION TO MOVE SAID LONG ARMPORTION OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BASE PLATE, AND A CLAMP LEVER PIVOTALLYMOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE ADAPTED TO BE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THETENSIONING CABLE AND ADAPTED TO OVERLIE SAID ANGLE LEVER IN A CLAMPEDPOSITION, SAID CLAMP LEVER AND SAID ANGLE LEVER DEFINING LOCKING MEANSPREVENTING ROTATION OF SAID ANGLE LEVER AND RELEASE OF SAID BINDING WHENTHE TENSIONING CABLE IS NORMALLY STRESSED AS WHEN A BOOT IS POSITIONEDIN THE BINDING, SAID LOCKING MEANS INCLUDING A MEMBER DISPLACEABLE WITHSAID CLAMP LEVER AND THE TENSIONING CABLE WHEN THE TENSIONING CABLE ISOVERSTRESSED TO RELEASE SAID ANGLE LEVER.